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72-643: Oasisamerica is a cultural region of Indigenous peoples in North America . Their precontact cultures were predominantly agrarian, in contrast with neighboring tribes to the south in Aridoamerica . The region spans parts of Northwestern Mexico and Southwestern United States and can include most of Arizona and New Mexico ; southern parts of Utah and Colorado ; and northern parts of Sonora and Chihuahua . During some historical periods, it might have included parts of California and Texas as well. The term

144-516: A Uto-Aztecan language. This community had an economy based on gathering and incipient agriculture on mountain slopes. They were a semi-nomadic people, probably because they had to migrate to compensate for the scarcity of food resources in the foothills of the mountains they called home. The Mogollon was a cultural area of Mesoamerica that extended from the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental , northward to Arizona and New Mexico in

216-415: A cultural area , cultural region , cultural sphere , or culture area refers to a geography with one relatively homogeneous human activity or complex of activities ( culture ). Such activities are often associated with an ethnolinguistic group and with the territory it inhabits. Specific cultures often do not limit their geographic coverage to the borders of a nation state , or to smaller subdivisions of

288-541: A circular arrangement. The Pueblo period begins with the development of ceramics . The most prominent feature of these ceramics is the predominance of pieces of a white or red color with black designs. During the Pueblo I phase (AD 750–900), the Ancestral Pueblo developed their first irrigation systems, and their former subterranean habitations were slowly replaced by houses constructed of masonry . Pueblo II (900–1150)

360-402: A collection of 20 or more clusters of houses, each with a plaza and enclosing wall. These single-story adobe dwellings shared a unified water system. Evidence indicates that Paquimé possessed an intricate water management system comprising underground drain networks, reservoirs , channels for water distribution to the residences, and a sewage system. After being burned about 1340, Casas Grandes

432-604: A continental scale are also referred to as "worlds", "spheres", or "civilizations", such as the Islamic world . The term cultural bloc is used by anthropologists to describe culturally and linguistically similar groups (or nations) of Aboriginal peoples of Australia . It may have been coined first by Ronald Berndt in 1959 to describe the Western Desert cultural bloc , a group of peoples in central Australia whose languages comprise around 40 dialects. Other groups described as

504-653: A cultural bloc include the Noongar people of south-western Australia; the Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland ; the Kuninjku / Bininj Kunwok bloc and the Yolngu cultural bloc in Arnhem Land , Northern Territory . A music area is a cultural area defined according to musical activity. It may or may not conflict with the cultural areas assigned to

576-408: A given region. The world may be divided into three large music areas, each containing a "cultivated" or classical musics "that are obviously its most complex musical forms", with, nearby, folk styles which interact with the cultivated, and, on the perimeter, primitive styles. [REDACTED] Media related to Cultural regions at Wikimedia Commons Paquim%C3%A9 Casas Grandes is one of

648-622: A part of Oasisamerica took place between the 5th and 14th centuries. Scholars contend that the Fremont culture was derived from the Ancestral Pueblo culture. Theoretically, the Fremont communities would have emigrated toward the north, bringing with them the customs, social organization structures, and technology of the Ancestral Pueblo. This hypothesis neatly explains the presence of ceramics in Utah that are very similar to those found in Mesa Verde. The decay of

720-664: A peripheral culture whose cultural development was probably influenced by their Hohokam neighbors to the east. From them they would have learned the Mesoamerican ballgame , cremation techniques, and techniques for the production of ceramics. The Patayan culture began to disappear in the 14th century. When the Spanish arrived in the region, the Colorado River Valley was only occupied by the river-dwelling Yuman peoples . Cultural region In anthropology and geography ,

792-480: A state. A culture area is a concept in cultural anthropology in which a geographic region and time sequence ( age area ) is characterized by shared elements of environment and culture. A precursor to the concept of culture areas originated with museum curators and ethnologists during the late 1800s as means of arranging exhibits, combined with the work of taxonomy . The American anthropologists Clark Wissler and Alfred Kroeber further developed this version of

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864-419: A subject, the traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a subject and especially a religious or legendary subject, including art. In the case with the ruins found at Casas Grandes, iconography has proven to be particularly important in understanding gender differences, especially in regards to trade, daily tasks, and religious rituals. Effigies (small figurines) were found through excavation of

936-477: A white or reddish surface, with ornamentation in blue, red, brown, or black. In the past it was sometimes considered to be of better manufacture than the contemporary pottery in the area. Effigy bowls and vessels were often formed in the shape of a painted human figure. Casas Grandes pottery was traded among prehistoric peoples as far north as present-day New Mexico and Arizona and throughout northern Mexico. The archaeologist Stephen Lekson has noted that Paquimé

1008-707: Is a significant part of a society's culture, but it can also divide subgroups of the same ethnolinguistic group along more subtle criteria, such as the Brünig-Napf-Reuss line in German-speaking Switzerland, the Weißwurstäquator in Germany, or the Grote rivieren boundary between Dutch and Flemish culture. In the history of Europe , the major cultural boundaries are traditionally found: Macro-cultures on

1080-422: Is aligned on roughly the same longitudinal axis as Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins , with an error of only a few kilometres/miles. Chaco reached its cultural peak first, then Aztec and Paquimé. The similarities among these sites may indicate that their ruling elites also had a ceremonial connection. Lekson proposed that ruling elites, once removed from their prior positions at Chaco, re-established their hegemony over

1152-407: Is contained within the eponymous modern municipio (municipality) of Casas Grandes . The valley and region have been inhabited by aboriginal groups for millennia. Between 1130 and 1300 AD, the area's inhabitants started gathering in small settlements within this expansive fertile valley. The most extensive identified settlement is now recognized as Paquimé or Casas Grandes . It originated as

1224-471: Is defined by the construction of great works of architecture, including multi-family, multi-story dwellings. The following phase of Pueblo III (1150–1350) witnessed the greatest expansion of Ancestral Pueblo agriculture as well as the construction of large regional communication networks that would persist until the Pueblo IV Era . In Pueblo IV (1350–1600), much of the earlier society disintegrated along with

1296-506: Is now known as the " cultural turn ." The definition of culture areas is enjoying a resurgence of practical and theoretical interest as social scientists conduct more research on processes of cultural globalization. Allen Noble gave a summary of the concept development of cultural regions using terms such as: Cultural "spheres of influence" may also overlap or form concentric structures of macrocultures encompassing smaller local cultures. Different boundaries may also be drawn depending on

1368-477: Is primarily associated with Carl O. Sauer and his colleagues. Sauer viewed culture as "an agent within a natural area that was a medium to be cultivated to produce the cultural landscape." Sauer's concept was later criticized as deterministic , and geographer Yi-Fu Tuan and others proposed versions that enabled scholars to account for phenomenological experience as well. This revision became known as humanistic geography. The period within which humanistic geography

1440-658: Is reasoned they represent cultural groups related and linked to the Mogollon culture. Early ethnologist Hubert Howe Bancroft , in his The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America (1874), had alleged that they are related to the modern-day Hopi People , referred as "Moqui" during his period. Contemporary scholars have not precisely identified the descendants of the Casas Grandes people. Iconography can be simply defined as pictorial or material relating to or illustrating

1512-499: Is that Casas Grandes was established by the elites of the Ancestral Puebloans from the north who were leaving Chaco Canyon and other areas during their decline. The third theory is that Casas Grandes is purely a local creation, a community that grew over time to dominate its region and adopted some religious and social customs from the civilizations of Mesoamerica. There is common academic agreement that trading existed between

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1584-704: Is the presence of a row of macaw pens in the center of the site. Archaeologists concluded that the community had imported an initial population of scarlet macaws from Mesoamerica and raised them as their feathers were considered sacred and important in Mesoamerican rituals. A major collection of Casas Grandes pottery is currently held by the Museum of Peoples and Cultures at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah . Stanford University in California also holds pottery artifacts from

1656-595: The Desert tradition , later would become more truly agricultural and form Oasisamerica. Maize has been grown in this region since 3500 BC and possibly 4000 BC, based on maize remnants (alongside squash) found in Bat Cave, New Mexico. The oldest evidence of maize agriculture in Mesoamerica predates this, suggesting that maize agriculture entered Oasisamerica from the south. It is likely that all precontact agricultural crops, except

1728-535: The Salt and Gila rivers that could reach several meters in depth and 10 km in length. Thanks to these canals, the Hohokam harvested as many as two crops of corn annually. The principal settlements of the Hohokam culture were Snaketown , Casa Grande , Red Mountain, and Pueblo de los Muertos, all of which are to be found in modern-day Arizona . The Hohokam lived in small communities of several hundred people. Their lifestyle

1800-606: The Sinagua . Ancestral Pueblo cultures flourished in the region currently known as the Four Corners . The territory was covered by juniper forests which the ancient peoples learned to exploit for their own needs, since foraging among the other vegetation only sufficed for half of the year, only to fail from November to April. The Ancestral Pueblo society is one of the most complex to be found in Oasisamerica, and they are assumed to be

1872-606: The kachina . The Hohokam occupied the desert-like lands of Arizona and Sonora . The Hohokam territory is bounded by two large rivers, the Salt River (Arizona) and Gila Rivers , that outline the heart of the Sonora Desert . The surrounding ecosystem presented many challenges to agriculture and human life because of its high temperatures and scant rainfall. Due to these factors, the Hohokam were forced to construct irrigation systems with elaborate webs of reservoirs and canals for

1944-420: The tepary bean ( Phaseolus acutifolius ) were imported from Mesoamerica. There are many indications of a close relationship between the two great cultural regions of North America. For one, the turquoise used by Mesoamericans came almost exclusively from southern New Mexico and Arizona. Demand for this mineral may have played a large part in establishing trade relationships between the two cultural areas. At

2016-602: The 14th and 15th centuries. At this time, the culture's major centers grew in population, size, and power. Paquime , in Chihuahua , was perhaps the largest of those. It dominated a mountainous region that contains many archaeological sites known as casas alcantilado , outposts constructed in hard-to-reach caves on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre. Paquimé traded with the heart of Mesoamerica, to which it provided precious minerals like turquoise and cinnabar . It also controlled

2088-655: The Ancestral Pueblo region, it was populated by the Pueblo Indians, a group without a unified ethnicity. The Zuni had no apparent relatives; the Hopi spoke an Uto-Aztecan language; the Tewas and Tiwas were Tanoanos; the Zia, Acoma, Cochiti, and Kewa were Keresan ; and the Navajo , who entered the southwest relatively recently, were Athabaskans . The religion of the Pueblo Indians was based upon

2160-603: The Fremont culture began as early as the second half of the 10th century and was completed in the 14th century. They migrated to northwestern Utah. Upon the Spaniards' arrival, the region was occupied by the Shoshones , an Uto-Aztecan group. The Patayan area occupies the western part of Oasisamerica. It comprises the modern-day states of California and Arizona in the U.S. , and Baja California and Sonora in Mexico. The Patayans were

2232-493: The Mogollon area multiplied much more rapidly than it had in the preceding centuries. During this period, the Mogollon likely benefited from trade relations with Mesoamerica , a fact that facilitated the development of agriculture and the stratification of society. It is also possible that Ancestral Pueblo influence could have grown at this time, because the Mogollon began to construct buildings of masonry, just like their northern neighbors. The Mogollon culture reached its height in

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2304-496: The Mogollon culture. The scholars Alfredo López Austin and Leonardo López Luján , for their historical analysis of the region, borrowed a chronology proposed earlier by Paul Martin, who himself divided Mogollon history into two general periods; the "Early" period runs from 500 BC until AD 1000, and the "Late" period begins in the 11th and goes to the 16th century. The first period featured a more or less slow cultural development. Technological changes were produced very gradually, and

2376-486: The United States, and demonstrating the extent of the Mogollon sphere of influence. The Casas Grandes complex is situated in a broad, fertile valley along the Casas Grandes or San Miguel River, approximately 56 kilometres (35 mi) south of Janos and 240 kilometres (150 mi) northwest of the state capital, Chihuahua . The settlement depended on irrigation to sustain its agricultural activities. The archaeological zone

2448-446: The ancestors of the modern Pueblo people (including the Zuñi and Hopi ). (The term "Anasazi" is also used to describe these cultures. It is a Navajo term meaning "enemy ancestors." The Ancestral Pueblo is considered to be the most intensely studied precontact culture in the United States. Archaeological investigation has established a sequence of cultural development that began before

2520-582: The angles stand 12 to 15 metres (40 to 50 ft) high, and indicate an original elevation of up to six or seven stories. Ruins about 140 metres (450 ft) from the main grouping consist of a series of rooms ranged round a square court, seven rooms to each side with a larger apartment at each corner. The settlement featured T-shaped doorways and stone disks at the bottom of ceiling support columns, both distinctive of Puebloan architecture. Casas Grandes had ballcourts, though they were relatively small compared to other major sites. The ballcourts at Paquime are in

2592-718: The apex of Paquimé. By the 15th century, a large part of the region had become abandoned by its former inhabitants. Possible descendants of the Mogollon include the Tarahumara ( Rarámuri ) based in Chihuahua, the Hopi in Arizona, and the Zuni in New Mexico. The Fremont area covered a large part of modern-day Utah . It was situated to the north of the Ancestral Pueblo cultural area. Its cultural development as

2664-765: The area at Aztec and later Paquime. This idea, though, remains controversial and is not as widely accepted as often reported (cf. Lekson 2009). It has been proposed, and more widely accepted, that the origins of Paquime can be found in its connection with the Mogollon culture . At the time of the Spanish Conquest , the district of Casas Grandes was studded with artificial mounds, from which looters took numerous stone axes, metates or corn-grinders, and earthenware pottery vessels of various kinds. Before significant archaeological investigation, sizable portions of buildings from pre-Columbian times were extant about 800 metres from

2736-494: The area directly controlled by Casas Grandes was relatively small, extending out about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the city. The population may have been about 2,500 in Casas Grandes with perhaps 10,000 people living within its area of control. Specialized craft activities included the production of copper bells and ornaments, extensive pottery , and beads from marine molluscs . These crafts were probably distributed by an extensive trading network. Casas Grandes pottery has

2808-579: The arid plains of the Sonora , Chihuahua , and Arizona Deserts. At its height, Oasisamerica covered part of the present-day Mexican states of Chihuahua , Sonora and Baja California , as well as the U.S. states of Arizona , Utah , New Mexico , Colorado , Nevada , and California . Despite being a dry land, Oasisamerica contains several bodies of water like rivers: Yaqui , Rio Grande , Colorado , Conchos and Gila Rivers . The presence of these rivers (and even some lakes that have since been swallowed by

2880-661: The classic "I" shape of those found Mesoamerica, and not the oval-shaped ones found in association with the Hohokam culture in south and central Arizona. A 2,300-kilogram (5,000 lb) iron meteorite was found in one of the rooms, carefully wrapped in linen. The meteorite is displayed in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History . Excavations in one compound produced eggshell fragments, bird skeletons, and traces of wooden perches. Additionally, there

2952-514: The communication networks. The current Pueblo V Era began with Spanish contact and the people settling at or near their current locations in the Rio Grande Valley . The reasons underpinning the decline of the Ancestral Pueblo remain somewhat of a mystery. The phenomenon is thought to be associated with a prolonged drought that befell the region from 1276 to 1299. When the Europeans arrived at

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3024-471: The concept on the premise that cultural areas represent longstanding cultural divisions. This iteration of the concept is sometimes criticized as arbitrary, but the organization of human communities into cultural areas remains a common practice throughout the social sciences . Cultural geography also utilizes the concept of culture areas. Cultural geography originated within the Berkeley School, and

3096-480: The construction of the canal works. In the Colonial period, ties were strengthened with Mesoamerica . Proof of this can be found in the recovery of copper hawk bells, pyrite mirrors, and the construction of ball courts. The relations with Mesoamerica and the presence of such traded goods indicate that by the Colonial period the Hohokam had already become organized into chiefdoms. Relations with Mesoamerica would diminish in

3168-450: The cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica, and the American southwest, though not on a large or planned scale. As no system like the pochteca existed in the north, the architectural remains throughout yet share a commonality of knowledge from north to south, that included such ancient population centers such as at Snaketown . Casas Grandes was abandoned in about 1450. It is unclear whether it

3240-529: The desert), combined with a climate that was much milder than eastern Aridoamerica, allowed the development of agricultural techniques that were imported from Mesoamerica. The story of the origins of the cultural superarea of Mesoamerica takes place some 2,000 years after the cultural separation of Mesoamerica and Aridoamerica . Some of the Aridoamerican communities farmed as a complement to their hunter-gatherer economy. Those communities, including members of

3312-608: The eastern side as lending toward the Puebloan peoples of North America and the west as referencing the cultures to the south in Mesoamerica. This visual motif is prevalent throughout the other sites sharing the same longitudinal line, indicating that they were built by a common group. The homes at Paquimé were circular and semi-circular pit houses and coursed-adobe room blocks built around plazas. The living spaces varied in size from closet -sized to extensive courtyards . Walls at many of

3384-400: The eighth and twelfth centuries. It was characterized by white pieces decorated with stylized representations of daily life in the community that created them. This was a very exceptional approach in a cultural area whose pottery was otherwise dominated by geometric patterns. As another contrast with the Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo, there is no widely accepted chronology for the development of

3456-679: The first century BC and extended to AD 1540 when the Pueblo Indians were subjugated by the Spanish Crown . This long period encompasses the Basketmaker I , II , and III phases followed by the Pueblo I , II , III , and IV phases. In the Basketmaker II phase, the Ancestral Pueblo took up residence in caves and rocky shelters, and in Basketmaker III Era (AD 500–750) they constructed the first subterranean cities with up to four abodes in

3528-419: The following period, and the Hohokam turned to construct multi-story buildings like Casa Grande. By the time the Europeans arrived in the Arizona and Sonora Deserts, a region which they named Pimería Alta , the urban centers of the Hohokam had already become abandoned presumably due to the health and ecological disasters that befell the indigenous social system. The Tohono O'odham live in this region and speak

3600-508: The form of social relationships and organizational patterns remained almost static for 1500 years. During the Early period, the Mogollons lived in rocky dwellings from which they defended themselves from the incursions of their hunter neighbors. Much like the Ancestral Pueblo peoples, the Mogollon also lived in semisubterranean abodes that often featured a kiva . In the 11th century, the population in

3672-409: The largest and most complex Mogollon culture sites in the region. Settlement began after 1130 AD, and the larger buildings developed into multi-storied dwellings after 1350 AD. The community was abandoned approximately in 1450 AD. Casas Grandes is regarded as one of the most significant Mogollon archaeological zones in the northwestern Mexico region, linking it to other sites in Arizona and New Mexico in

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3744-421: The modern community. The ruins were built of sun-dried blocks of mud and gravel , about 56 centimetres (22 in) thick, and of irregular length, generally about 1 metre (3 ft), probably formed and dried in place. The thick walls seem to have been plastered both inside and outside. A principal structure extended 240 metres (800 ft) from north to south, and 76 metres (250 ft) east to west. It

3816-488: The north led to the common agreement that the site is part of the Mogollon culture sphere of influence. Three other theories compete to explain its existence. The archaeologist Charles C. Di Peso advanced the theory that Casas Grandes was a backwater until about 1200 CE when pochteca (traders) from the Aztec empire or other Mesoamerican states to the south turned it into a major trading center. A diametrically opposed theory

3888-537: The north, the Mogollons usually buried their dead. The culture's graves often included ceramic art and semiprecious stones. Because the Mogollon burial sites displayed such wealth, they were often looted by grave robbers who sought to sell their spoils on the archaeological black market. Perhaps the most impressive Mogollon ceramic tradition was to be found in the valley of the Mimbres River in New Mexico. The ceramic production of this region became most developed between

3960-462: The origins and ethnic identity of the Hohokam culture. Some hold that the culture developed endogenously (without outside influence), pointing to Snaketown which had its origins in the fourth century BC. Others believe the culture to be a product of migration from Mesoamerica . In defense of this line of thought, proponents point to the fact that Hohokam ceramics appeared in 300 BC (also the time of Snaketown's founding), and that before this time, there

4032-411: The particular aspect of interest, such as religion and folklore vs dress, or architecture vs language. Another version of cultural area typology divides cultural areas into three forms: A cultural boundary (also cultural border) in ethnology is a geographical boundary between two identifiable ethnic or ethnolinguistic cultures. A language border is necessarily also a cultural border, as language

4104-573: The people of Casas Grandes joined the Pueblos on the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Other theories are that the Casas Grandes people migrated west to Sonora and joined or became the Opata whom the Spaniards found in the mid 16th century living in "statelets," small but well-organized city states. It is also possible that Casas Grandes was abandoned because opportunities were greater elsewhere. Other communities in

4176-583: The same time, in Paquimé , a site connected to the Mogollon culture, there are ceremonial structures related to Mesoamerican religion and an important number of skeletons of Macaws that were carefully transported from the forests of southeastern Mexico . The area encompassed by Oasisamerica fostered the growth of several major cultural groups: the Ancestral Pueblo people , Hohokam , Mogollon , Pataya , and Fremont . Smaller cultures within this region include

4248-485: The similar regions of Mesoamerica and mostly nomadic Aridoamerica . The term Greater Southwest is often used to describe this region by American anthropologists, while Oasisamerica is more used by Mexican scholars. The term Oasisamerica combines " oasis " and " America ". It refers to the land dominated by the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre Occidental . To the east and west of these mountain ranges stretch

4320-471: The site, thus the effigies show definite gender and sex differences between males and females in society. The similar characteristics of the effigies such as body positions, body proportions, activities, and facial decorations allow archaeologist to make assumptions of how gender differences were portrayed. Artisans of Casas Grandes depicted a wide range of behaviors and beliefs from rules about social behavior (sitting positions) to ritual activities (smoking) and

4392-623: The site. A group of 23 pottery vessels from the site was acquired by the British Museum in 1979. A new permanent exhibit, Without Borders: The Deep History of Paquimé, has also recently opened at the Amerind Museum . The remainder of the material culture recovered from Paquime is located in the care of INAH in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua and Chihuahua City, Chihuahua. Casas Grandes' ruins are similar to neighboring ruins near Gila and Salinas in New Mexico, as well as Arizona and Colorado . It

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4464-479: The southwestern United States. Some scholars prefer to distinguish between two broad cultural traditions in this area: the Mogollon itself and the Paquime culture that was derived from it. Either way, the peoples who inhabited the area in question adapted well to a landscape that was marked by the presence of pine forests and steep mountains and ravines . In contrast to their Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo neighbors to

4536-716: The supernatural (horned/plumed serpents). Based on archaeologists' studies of the effigies found, the activities of women and men were both valued, and social differentiation was based more on individual status and class membership than sex and gender. Contrasting specific pictorial representations of the effigies include masculine identified features and activities such as sitting with their legs flexed to their bodies, decorated with pound signs and horned serpent imagery, smoking, and their penis. Females in contrast have large midsections sitting with their legs extended, decorated with modified pound signs and bird imagery, holding children and pots, and occasionally nursing. The effigies depicted

4608-458: The trade of certain products from the coasts of the Gulf of California , especially its Nassarius conch shells. Paquime received heavy influence from the Mesoamerican societies, as evidenced by the presence of arenas for the Mesoamerican ballgame and the remains of animals native to Mesoamerica like the macaw . The decline of the main centers of Mogollon power began in the 13th century, even before

4680-402: The way in which the Casas Grandes people thought social life should be implemented based on gender differences and provide insight on the simple aspects of society. Various theories exist as to the inhabitants of Casas Grandes, but the most logical relationship of Casas Grandes to Forty Houses 97 kilometres (60 mi) to the south and to TJ Ruins and Gila Cliff 320 kilometres (200 mi) to

4752-546: The worship of plant-like deities and the fertility of the earth. They believed that supernatural beings called the kachina had come to the surface of the Earth from the sipapu (center of the Earth) at the moment of the creation of the human race. Worship in Pueblo societies was organized by secret all-male groups that met in kivas . The members of these secret societies claimed to represent

4824-458: Was abandoned slowly over a period of years or quickly. The Spanish explorer Francisco de Ibarra found the site of Casa Grandes in 1565. The Indians nearby, non-agricultural nomads, probably Suma or Jano, told him that a war with village dwellers, the Opata , four days journey west had caused the abandonment of Casas Grandes and that the inhabitants had moved six days journey north. This story suggests

4896-529: Was first proposed by German-Mexican anthropologist Paul Kirchhoff , who also coined Mesoamerica and Aridoamerica , and is used by some scholars, primarily Mexican anthropologists , for the broad cultural area defining pre-Columbian southwestern North America . It extends from modern-day Utah down to southern Chihuahua , and from the coast on the Gulf of California eastward to the Río Bravo river valley. Its name comes from its position in relationship with

4968-477: Was generally rectangular, and appears to have consisted of three separate units joined by galleries or lines of lower buildings. The eastern and western halves of the city are divided by a stone wall and reservoirs. The monuments on the east are rectilinear, puddled adobe structures used primarily for domestic and manufacturing purposes. The buildings on the west, on the other hand, are open earth mounds lined in stone for public displays. This visual structure defines

5040-456: Was no indication of an independent regional development of ceramics. Along the same line of reasoning, several other technological advances like the canal works and certain cultural phenomena like cremation seem to have originated in western Mesoamerica. The development of the Hohokam culture is divided into four periods: Pioneer (300 BC–AD 550), Colonial (550–900), Sedentary (900–1100), and Classical (1100–1450). The Pioneer period commenced with

5112-409: Was rebuilt with multi-story apartment buildings to replace the small buildings. Casas Grandes consisted of about 2,000 adjoining rooms built of adobe, I-shaped Mesoamerican ballcourts , stone-faced platforms, effigy mounds, and a market area. About 350 other, smaller settlement sites have been found in the Casas Grandes area, some as far as 70 kilometres (43 mi) away. Archaeologists believe that

5184-402: Was very similar to that of the Ancestral Pueblo in their Basketmaker III phase: semisubterranean but with spacious interiors. Several other artifacts are unique to the Hohokam, including conch necklaces (imported from the coastal regions of Greater California and Sonora ) etched with acids produced by pitaya fermentation; and axes, trowels, and other stone instruments. Archaeologists dispute

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